Locals Matter. Get Involved.

Whether you live or recreate within the Greater Yellowstone Ecosystem, your voice is an invaluable asset. From living or playing here, you already know Greater Yellowstone is exceptional and unique. From geysers to blue-ribbon trout streams to abundant wildlife, it is a stunning example of what we all love about this place: access to wild nature, fishing, hunting, camping, hiking, and so much more. People like you have come together over the past three decades to preserve it now, and for future generations.

You have the chance to help determine the future of our wild backyard for the next 30 years.

We are lucky to call the Gallatin and Madison mountains home. They provide abundant wildlife, clean drinking water, and wild trails – but for how much longer? Between skyrocketing populations and a changing landscape, these constants of mountain living are starting to look a lot less certain. Now the Custer Gallatin National Forest’s management plan is up for its once-in-a-generation revision, giving us our chance to secure our mountains’ future.

As the popularity of winter recreation continues to expand across the Greater Yellowstone Ecosystem it is up to us to recreate responsibly. Fortunately it isn’t very hard to help give wildlife a chance to endure in winter. By staying out of established Habitat Protection Areas we avoid stressing animals, helping them conserve those critical fat reserves they are relying on through late April. These areas represent a small fraction of the overall terrain available to human recreationists, a small sacrifice for the future of the GYE.

Greater Yellowstone Coalition (GYC) is engaging in the 2019 session of the Wyoming Legislature in Cheyenne. Below is a list of proposed bills and resolutions that we are watching followed with points on our perspective.

As a community organizer, I spend a lot of time thinking about how and why people come together. In today’s age of polarizing politics, common ground is admittedly hard to come by. Fortunately for us in Montana, we’ve got plenty of it – over 30 million acres, in fact. Our abundant public land is the literal common ground upon which all manner of Montanans stand to celebrate, enjoy, and defend.

While we had a very successful 2018, we’re looking even more forward to the endeavors of 2019. We’ll be wrapping up a few campaigns, diving deeper into some big projects, and keeping an eye out for new issues in the ecosystem that needs our attention. We asked our staff what they’re most excited for in the New Year and this is what they had to say.

Today, we remain close to a major victory for the Greater Yellowstone Ecosystem. In the waning days of the lame duck session, the United States Congress deferred a public lands package that included the Yellowstone Gateway Protection Act to early January 2019. When passed, the law will prohibit large-scale mining on 30,370 acres of our public lands at Yellowstone’s northern gateway forever.